#360view: Italian elite flexing their muscle in the transfer market

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Juve-bound: Dybala.

    The transfer window is barely 48 hours old, yet a look at the biggest spenders so far this summer reveals an early trend.

    Traditional big players such as Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea are yet to fully get involved but two of the top three are Italian.

    Juventus have invested €67.5m (Dh274m) so far on Paulo Dybala, Mario Madzukic and making Roberto Pereyra’s loan from Udinese permanent, Internazionale €59.7m (Dh242.8m) on Geoffrey Kondogbia, Miranda and Jeison Murillo.

    Last summer, Roma were the single Italian club occupying the top 10 with €99.8m (Dh405.9m). Juve were the only other in the top 20, spending €44m (Dh178.9m).

    These aren’t funds being spent that have been recouped via outgoing either, they are genuine statements, in particular the acquisitions of Dybala – one of the most highly rated young strikers in the world – Mandzukic and Kondogbia. Three players who, if you asked the managers of the top clubs in each of Europe’s five biggest leagues, the vast majority would like to have.

    Italian football has long been in the financial doldrums following the glamour years of the 1990s when the league hoovered up the best on the planet. Scandals have damaged its image abroad, while the fractious Italian economy and a lack of investment on stadium redevelopment has left Serie A a relic of the era it dominated.

    While it’s premature to say the tide is turning as clubs still have their issues, rising debt (27 per cent increase over the last five years), awful financial management (Parma) and an overreliance on TV money; a bubble that can theoretically burst at any stage, it appears salvation has arrived in Juve and money from overseas.

    The Bianconeri have set the benchmark in sensible restructuring with a modest new stadium – 41,254 capacity compared to the cavernous 69,000 Stadio delle Alpi – plus sensible transfer acquisitions; the 10 outfield players that started the Champions League final against Barca cost around €65m (Dh264m), (Gianluigi Buffon the sole survivor of the boom years).

    It has taken time but Juve are now once again a genuine force in Europe and their spending this summer, with €63m (Dh256m) to be received for their Champions League campaign, a message they intend to build on such success.

    Other than losing Carlos Tevez and Andrea Pirlo, the rest of the team looks set for the new season.

    Inter and Milan, meanwhile, have taken the more quick-fix option in embracing foreign ownership – Erick Thohir at the Nerazzurri and Bee Taechaubol for the Rossoneri – but nonethless are determined for a return to Europe’s top table.

    Juve’s position at the top is unlikely to last until September 1, and by no means is this a sign Italian football is once again in rude financial health, but there is a reassuring aspect to the fact that the country’s elite are once again genuine competitors in the race to sign the finest talent in what is a fiercely intense global marketplace. 

    Recommended